Bettors jumping on the Seahawks

As kickoff approaches for tonight’s game at St. Louis, the spread is moving quickly in the direction of the Seahawks — they are now favored by as many as 14 points. They began the week favored by 10.5, a line that was a lot different than it would have been a week earlier before Sam Bradford was lost for the season (early spreads on the game had Seattle favored by six or so).

And while I can’t definitively prove it, not having access to the point spreads for every Seahawks’ game ever played, I think there’s a good chance that that is the biggest spread ever in favor of Seattle in a road game.

What I determined earlier this year to be the biggest in recent memory came in 2005 when Seattle was a 12.5-point favorite at San Francisco.

That’s the year the Seahawks went to the Super Bowl while the 49ers finished 4-12.

If you’re into omens, that game might be a little bit of a nervous one for tonight, as the Seahawks had to hold on to win when the 49ers missed on two-point try to tie it with 30 seconds left.

And the Seahawks will also have to buck something of a trend in betting circles, as double-digit road favorites are often regarded as teams from which to stay very far away.

As this story details, double-digit road favorites covered the spread just 30 of 78 times from 1998-2012.

The Seahawks, of course, are worried solely about winning the game by any number and as the same story details, the big road favorites usually upheld that part of the bargain, going 63-15 in that time.